Official 49ers Thread

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I know the Skins are looking at both of those guys as well. With Desean Jackson, Welker and Bowe all getting tagged there are fewer options but still a lot of good ones. Colston and Garcon are two in addition to Wallace and V. Jackson. Manningham is out there too but is a level down and wants to be paid like a 1 even though I don't think most people put him on that tier.

Wallace is the pick of the litter, though Vincent Jackson isn't that far behind. Besides Calvin Johnson, Victor Cruz, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith, there aren't too many WRs better than Mike Wallace. The dude is fast. Is average yards per reception went down somewhat this year, but that may have been due to the shoddy Pittsburgh o-line and a gimpy Ben Roethlisberger.

In 2010, he had 21 yards per reception. In 2011, Victor Cruz had the highest yards per catch in the league at 18.7. The funny thing is Desean Jackson went for 22.5 yards per catch in 2010. Crazy.

[oxcoug]

1 year deal w/ Randy Moss?

Can't decide if this is

:rockon2:

or

:thumbsdown:

[UtahDan]

1 year deal w/ Randy Moss?

Can't decide if this is

:rockon2:

or

:thumbsdown:

It's a good deal if they paid the veteran minimum.

[Surfah]

Can Alex Smith throw that far?

[DrumNFeather]

Josh Morgan seems to be gaining some steam as a sleeper FA.

[dabrockster]

Ted Ginn looking to visit Detroit... Think this would be a loss for SF.. I know he has had injuries but the guy makes plays when he is out there.. I can't imagine how many PR for TD's he'll make in a dome..

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf..._flyout_sports

The Detroit Lions are looking at San Francisco 49ers receiver Ted Ginn Jr. to possibly become its fourth receiver when he visits Allen Park this week.

San Francisco 49ers free agent receiver Tedd Ginn Jr. is going to visit the Detroit Lions either today or tomorrow, according to sources.

The Lions are looking for a fourth receiver to play behind Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Titus Young. Detroit had Maurice Stovall and Rashied Davis on its roster last season, but management decided to let each player test free agency and are looking in a different direction.

Ginn, a former first round pick in 2007, could possibly replace Logan as Detroit's returner.

He played for the Miami Dolphins from 2007 to 2009 before being traded to San Francisco for a fifth-round pick in 2010.

Last season, Ginn returned a kickoff (102 yards) and a punt (55 yards) for two touchdowns within 59 seconds against Seattle. He had 19 receptions for 220 yards in 2011. Ginn has 159 receptions for 2,047 yards and six touchdowns in his five-year career.

[DrumNFeather]

According to Peter King, this whole Smith to Miami thing isn't dead with the news that Manning isn't going to San Fran. That would be a huge mistake on Smith's part, but people have made dumber moves than that before.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Smith is signed to a three year deal, $8 million per year. Good for all involved, I really hope Smith continues to improve.

[LA Ute]

Nice little human interest bit about Alex Smith here:

http://bayarea.sbnation.com/san-fran...l-sierra-lamar

[BigPiney]

NFL Schedule is out:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2012/REG/49ERS

Niners start the season with some tough games. @ GB then Lions at home. Then they play the crappy NFC west.

@ Saints and @ NE will both be tough late in the season.


2 sunday night games, 2 monday night games, Once Thursday night crappy nflnetwork game.

Going to be playoff bound once again.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

My wish list for the first three rounds in the draft:

1st: the best NT or 3-4 DE available

2nd: a guard

3rd: Robert Turbin, who the Niners worked out. I will be surprised if he's still there at the #30 pick in the 3rd round, but I could see the Niners moving up to the middle of the 3rd to grab him.

[oxcoug]

The new season is in view and I'm moderating my anticipation - but the strange fact is that the Niners are coming into the year with legitimate expectations for the first time in a long time.

A few thoughts:
* The defense should be rock solid again though there are improvements we might hope for in the secondary - but as has been noted elsewhere, the 16th ranked pass defense occasionally looked worse because teams gave up on running against the Niners 1st ranked rush defense and just threw all day - I think on net it's reasonable to expect that the Niners will again be in the top five scoring defenses in the league (#2 last year)

*It stands to reason that Harbaugh will open up the passing game a bit this year - Smith coming off a 17/5 TD/INT season plus the addition of lots of outside talent. Jenkins is a legit 4.39 burner, Manningham and Moss aren't marquis talents at this point (Moss is now 35) but they give the Niners big outside targets. Gore and James provide two very good pass catchers out of the backfield and then there is Vernon Davis. Crabtree and Smith are spending the offseason working out together for the first time in their careers and it should pay off.

*W/ Jacobs, Hunter and James backing up Gore I'm a bit less concerned about him wearing down. I'm interested to see how Harbaugh might innovate to make the most of James' explosiveness.

All up - should be a fun year. It's also the type of year that cld turn into disappointment if the Niners lose a few close ones and don't maintain last year's level.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The new season is in view and I'm moderating my anticipation - but the strange fact is that the Niners are coming into the year with legitimate expectations for the first time in a long time.

A few thoughts:
* The defense should be rock solid again though there are improvements we might hope for in the secondary - but as has been noted elsewhere, the 16th ranked pass defense occasionally looked worse because teams gave up on running against the Niners 1st ranked rush defense and just threw all day - I think on net it's reasonable to expect that the Niners will again be in the top five scoring defenses in the league (#2 last year)

*It stands to reason that Harbaugh will open up the passing game a bit this year - Smith coming off a 17/5 TD/INT season plus the addition of lots of outside talent. Jenkins is a legit 4.39 burner, Manningham and Moss aren't marquis talents at this point (Moss is now 35) but they give the Niners big outside targets. Gore and James provide two very good pass catchers out of the backfield and then there is Vernon Davis. Crabtree and Smith are spending the offseason working out together for the first time in their careers and it should pay off.

*W/ Jacobs, Hunter and James backing up Gore I'm a bit less concerned about him wearing down. I'm interested to see how Harbaugh might innovate to make the most of James' explosiveness.

All up - should be a fun year. It's also the type of year that cld turn into disappointment if the Niners lose a few close ones and don't maintain last year's level.

The Niners got lucky with injuries last year. They didn't lose anyone in their secondary or their d-line. I'm worried about the d-line depth, Justin Smith is not young.

On the other hand, the Josh Morgan injury IMO was quite damaging. He was clearly their best receiver. But they also didn't have much in the way of injuries on their o-line or to the other skill positions. You could see Frank Gore wear down as the season went on and they wanted to add some depth. I think they're hoping for a Brian Westbrook type player in LaMichael James, and he should be able to get quite a few snaps and keep Gore fresh.

[LA Ute]

This is long, but it looks pretty good. (I'm only 5 minutes in.) A history of the 49ers' recent troubles and Smith's travails up through last season.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/44971571"]Sportsfan - FULL version on Vimeo[/ame]

[DrumNFeather]

From the PFT Season preview for the 49ers:

Quarterback Alex Smith gained plenty of support during the Niners’ 13-3 season, but he is the weak link on offense. The 49ers know it, as Smith attempted the fewest passes of any 16-game starting quarterback in the league last year. Only the read-option Broncos threw the football less. Harbaugh effectively manipulated Smith with a dominant defense, potent and oft-used running game, and emphasis on high-percentage throws. Smith was — and likely forever will be — a game manager. His job is to complete throws to the open man and avoid turnovers.

How true is this 49er fans? I mean, I get that they kicked the most FGs and that he may have started out the season as a game manager...but his performance against the Saints in the win, and even his TD passes vs. the Giants in the NFC title game were far more than just "hitting the open man."